Happy Monday! It has been a bit of a sobering weekend for us. One of our youngest son's best friends came down with Covid-19 about a week ago and after getting his illness compounded with pneumonia lost his battle and passed away Sunday morning. He was 28 years old, just celebrated his fourth wedding anniversary a few months ago, and leaves a wife who is expecting their first child. This young man spent many evenings and weekends at our house during his growing up years, and was one of my scouts when I was the neighborhood scoutmaster. Covid-19 seems not to care too much about how and when it strikes and what it costs. It has been a solemn reminder for us that that we are not done with this disease and that we have to still take important precautions to stay safe and healthy.
Looking forward to this week, we have a council meeting tomorrow, we will be meeting with elected officials from around Utah County to talk about collaborating on aquifer storage and recovery projects, will continue work on some significant housing related issues in Provo, and just keeping our heads above water on other issues we probably haven't even heard about yet. All in a week's work.
UPCOMING CITY EVENTS
Paint Night I October 26 7:00 pm
Catapult I October 26 7:30pm
Learn It: All About Stress I October 27 7:00 pm
Ammon and Liahona Olayan I October 27 7:30pm
BYU Young Company: Luna I November 1 7:00 pm
Learn It: Buying Your First Home I November 2 7:00 pm
Learn It: Bookbinding I November 3 7:00 pm
Provo City Library Writing Group I November 6 1:00 pm
Conversations/Conversaciones I November 9 7:00 pm
Fall Leaves for Families I November 10 6:30 pm
Harry Potter Trivia I November 10 7:00 pm
A Night of Bluegrass with The Fabled Folks I November 15 7:00 pm
Learn It: Medicare 101 I November 16 7:00 pm
Learn It: Gluten Free Cookies I November 17 7:00 pm
Teen Dungeons & Dragons Club I November 18 6:30 pm
Joshua Creek Christmas I November 29 7:00 pm
Ryan Shupe Christmas I November 30 7:30 pm
A Christmas Carol | December 02 - December 20
Light Up Christmas! I December 3 - December 4
YOUR VOICE
One of the ideas that came through the earlier survey was the desire to make the update more interactive. So, today we are asking you to check out this section (on the right -->) where we will include polls and questions for you, as well as a form where you can highlight a coworker or tell us about what you do for the city! This can range from new babies or weddings to just wanting to give a shout-out to a fellow employee. Fill out the questions on the left, then upload pictures for us to share using the link below! We will post your responses in upcoming editions of the update.
NEWS YOU CAN USE
- Today is World Pasta day and 2 months until Christmas! Do you have your Christmas shopping done yet?
- Afghan refugees are arriving in Utah and the Utah Muslim Civic League is one of the organizations welcoming them to our state. They are looking for volunteers and donations to help provide Halal meals, essential items including hygiene and cleaning supplies and legal help navigating the humanitarian parole process.
- The FBI identified the remains found in the Florida preserve as Brian Laundrie's. This comes after he was a person of interest in the investigation of the murder of his girlfriend, Gabby Petito.
- An assistant director unwittingly handed Alec Baldwin a loaded weapon and told him it was safe to use. Unfortunately, it was loaded with live rounds and while filming Alec Baldwin fatally shot a cinematographer, and injured the director.
PROVO SOCIAL MEDIA
HOT-BUTTON ITEMS IN PROVO
So, today let's talk winter weather and how it impacts Provo. For clarity sake, I am just going to try to share some general observations and ways to think about snow, driving, topography and water.
- Everybody in Utah loves or hates snow - there is no in between. My ideal Utah winter is lots of snow in the mountains, rain in the valleys, and only starting up my snow blower a couple of times a season. But, as we all know, we very seldom get those "designer storms," and we have to be ready for serious snow days. Winter also on occasion brings high winds with microburst potentials. Wind is not as bad here as in other parts of Utah, but every few years we can get hit hard with high winds.
- We also all know how important mountain snowpack and valley rain are for our summer water supply. With the last few years of intensifying drought, we could certainly use snowpack which helps fill reservoirs and regular snow and rain in the valley which recharge the aquifer and generally helps with groundwater. So our public works team watches the winter moisture very carefully to help monitor water content in the soil and in the aquifer and snow in the mountains. They also watch the snowpack carefully as spring approaches to be able to mitigate any risks of flooding that can follow very warm spring temperatures.
- We ask our snow plow operators to take on some very hazardous conditions. Kind of like first responders, they tend to run toward icy roads instead of staying home or trying to drive less like the rest of us do. And with Provo's terrain, some of our city streets can get way more snow than others. We also have to carefully monitor weather and road conditions to make sure we have adequate materials and supplies for snow and ice control. We ask our operators to stay ready to be called back - they almost never get to head out of town for the holidays and frequently miss Christmas morning with their families so the rest of us can spend Christmas afternoon with our families.
- Our first responders also have winter preparations in the works. Fire trucks and ambulances have to get to our residents in the hilliest parts of Provo whatever the weather, and more and more of our police vehicles have all-wheel or 4-wheel drive for that same purpose. If you haven't ever seen a fire truck deploy its own tire chains, it is kind of a cool process!
- One of the most challenging parts of snow and ice control is working closely with the school district on busing routes and school start times to try to protect the safety of drivers, students, teachers, parents, and crossing guards during winter storms. Trying to assess all of the factors involved is almost equal parts of art and science, and our team does an amazing job year in and year out.
FUN STUFF
Now, I know that none of us ever makes an excuse for being late to work. But this video shares some amazing ones, just for fun! Hope you enjoy the creativity of these folks.
Thanks for all you do! Have a great evening.
Wayne
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